16^th Annual Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Sciences Congress October 16-17, 2017 Seoul, South Korea

Maryam Hamzeloo-Moghadam research interests include cytotoxic evaluation and apoptotic induction of natural products along with exploring the traditional manuscript for biological evaluation or preparation of modern dosage forms.

Statement of the Problem: In recent years, medicinal plants have been the focus of attention in pharmaceutical sciences evaluations. They have been the interest of researchers as potential agents for treatment of various ailments, one of which is cancer. Some medicinal plants have been proved to be able to fight cancer trough inducing apoptosis in the cancerous cells. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death which will start in response to some stimuli’s. In the present study, the cytotoxic and possible apoptosis activity of two plant extracts derived from Acanthophyllum bracteatum Boiss. and A. microcephalum Boiss. (Caryophyllaceae) have been evaluated in MCF-7 cancerous cell line. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The methanol extract of the plants were obtained by maceration and the cytotoxicity was evaluated with MTT assay. The apoptosis potential of the extracts were then evaluated by Hoechst 33258 staining which is a cell-permeant DNA-binding dye that brightly stains the condensed chromatin of apoptotic cells which could be examined by fluorescence microscopy afterwards. Findings: The IC50 values in MTT assay were found to be 159 and 64 μg/mL for Acanthophyllum bracteatum and A. microcephalum in MCF-7 cells, respectively. Stained nuclei could be detected in the Hoechst assay. Conclusion & Significance: Considering the results it is suggested that the two species go through further studies for isolation of their effective components. Evaluating the cytotoxic and apoptosis properties of the isolated compounds could be the aim of our next project.

Somayeh Esmaeili research interests include antimalarial and cytotoxic evaluation of medicinal herbs and natural products along with exploring the traditional manuscripts for biological evaluation or preparation of modern dosage forms

Statement of the Problem: Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in the world caused by Plasmodium species. According to the latest reports, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and an estimated 429 000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2015(1). Plasmodium has got several detoxification mechanisms to protect itself from toxic heme (2). The most important mechanism is hemozoin formation (3). Identifying compounds that inhibit heme detoxification is an approach for detecting antimalarial drugs. The present was intended to screen selected plants from Lamiaceae family for evaluation of their antimalarial mechanism. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Methanol extracts of Marrubium astracanicum Jacq. , Lamium album L., Phlomis caucasica Rech.f., Nepeta transcaucasica Grossh., Salvia sahendica Boiss. & Buhse, Salvia grossheimi Sosn. and Scutellaria virens Boiss. & Kotschy were prepared by maceration method. Heme detoxification (ITHD) (4) assessment was done by spectrophotometric analysis of β-hematin formation. Hemin Chloride, tween 20 and samples were added in each well of a 96-wells plate, and incubated at 60ºC. The absorbance was recorded with a micro-ELISA reader at 405 nm, and percentage of heme polymerization inhibition was calculated. Findings: Methanol extracts of M. astracanicum and P. caucasica demonstrated inhibition of β-hematin formation at concentration of 200 µg.ml-1. Other plants didn’t show any remarkable inhibition. Conclusion & Significance: This is the first report that mentioned mode of antimalarial action of M. astracanicum and P. caucasica. Since, antiprotozoal activity of these plants has been reported (5-6); they could be proper candidates for drug discovery programs in malaria studies.

Homa Hajimhdipoor is expert in formulation and quality control of herbal products. She uses herbal manuscripts from Iranian traditional textbooks and formulate them as modern drug delivery systems. In the other parts of her work, she analyses and evaluates herbal materials and products in order to be in agreement with herbal pharmacopoeia.

Statement of the Problem: The world is moving towards traditional and complementary medicine to increase efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of treatments (1). Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) is rich in prescriptions for different diseases. In the present investigation, a poly herbal tablet based on ITM has been formulated and its quality control parameters have been developed. This formulation is used in powder form in ITM as a purgative agent (2). Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The main ingredients of the tablet including barks of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Cinnamomum cassia, the rhizome of Nardostachys jatamansi, the fruits of Piper cubeba, the flowers of Rosa damascena, the gum resin of Pistacia terebinthus and Aloe spp. dried juice were powdered and used for preparing seven tablet formulations of the herbal mixture (3). Flow-ability of the different powders was examined and the best formulations were selected (F6&F7). The tablets were prepared from two best formula using corn starch and magnesium stearate and compared according to physical characteristics. Finally, F7 was found to be the best formulation and was coated. Physicochemical characters of core and coated AF tablets were determined (3,4). Findings: The results showed that core and coated AF tablets were in agreement with USP requirements for herbal products. They had acceptable appearance, disintegration time, friability, hardness, dissolution behavior, weight variation and content uniformity. The amount of aloin in tablets was found to be 123 mg/tab. Conclusion & Significance: In general, the formulated poly herbal tablets with suitable physicochemical characteristics could be used as a purgative agent instead of powder form which is not acceptable by patients.